


greenhouses

by FancifulRivers



Series: warmth [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Herbology is nifty, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect, Magical Dudley Dursley, Plants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 16:31:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15028649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancifulRivers/pseuds/FancifulRivers
Summary: Harry and Dudley start exploring Hogwarts. Beginning with the grounds.





	greenhouses

**Author's Note:**

> It might help if you've read the other stories in the series.

"I'll be in my lab," Snape announced at the end of breakfast. He stood up with an abrupt swirl of robes and Harry's stomach clenched.

"Can we- can we come, too?" Harry asked tentatively.

"No," Snape said. Seeing the  _look_ the Headmaster was giving him, Snape sighed. "My lab isn't appropriate for children," he elaborated. "I am working on several potions that are in delicate stages at the moment. Perhaps-" He grimaced, like he'd eaten a lemon. "Perhaps later," he finished.

"Okay," Harry said. He didn't know why he felt so drawn to the sneering, hook-nosed man with greasy hair (his cousin certainly wasn't, Dudley looked like he wanted to cheer at the prospect of not spending the day with Snape), but he was. Perhaps it was because he knew Molly. He'd  _listened_. 

He'd rescued Harry from the Dursleys.

"What's potions?" Harry asked belatedly once the thought struck him.

"I am a Potions Master," Snape said through gritted teeth. "I teach Potions here at Hogwarts."

"I'll find some books for you, Harry," Pomona Sprout piped up. "Do you like to read?"

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said, nodding eagerly. He wasn't really... _allowed_ to read at the Dursleys'. Certainly not for fun. Not when he could be doing chores instead.

"Why don't I show them around, Severus?" Pomona asked. "I can show them some of the tamer greenhouses."

"Harry used to do all the gardening," Dudley piped up. Harry went red.

"I like plants," he said shyly.

"I teach Herbology," Pomona said, her face warm and friendly. "Would you like to hear what everyone teaches?" Both Harry and Dudley nodded.

"Aurora teaches Astronomy, Minnie teaches Transfiguration, Filius teaches Charms, and as you heard, Severus teaches Potions," she explained. "Albus is the Headmaster of the school and Hagrid is the gameskeeper."

"What are those?" Harry asked, wide-eyed. He had heard of astronomy, but the others sounded, well-

Magical.

"I'll find some books on all of them," Professor Sprout promised. "But let's show you the greenhouses, shall we?"

"Please," Snape muttered. Harry grinned to himself.

The grounds were enormous and everything Harry could have dreamed of. A sprawling, green expanse with rocky outcroppings and a lake that shimmered under the morning sun. Professor Sprout explained that a giant squid lived there. Dudley looked faintly green at the thought, but Harry wanted to see it.

"Never go in the Forbidden Forest," Professor Sprout cautioned, pointing toward the wild tangles of wood that looped around the far edge. They were allowed to go to Hagrid's hut, though, if they had permission. He'd had to stay back to talk to Dumbledore, but apparently he had an enormous dog named Fang who, despite the name, was very friendly and very slobbery.

"And here are the greenhouses," Pomona said brightly. There were several, lined up in a row, and Harry could see big, gold-plated numbers secured on each door.

"What do the numbers mean?" He asked.

"They tell the students the level of danger the plants within possess," she said. "For example, this is greenhouse 1. This is where first years work. Nothing here can really hurt you, as long as you are careful."

Harry took a deep breath. The air in here was humid and smelled like dirt and that indefinable smell of too much greenery. If there could ever be too much. Dudley nervously inched his way inside, looking around with wide eyes.

"Nothing's gonna eat me, right?" He quavered. 

"Of course not!" Professor Sprout reassured him. "There are no carniverous plants in this greenhouse whatsoever. It's not allowed."

 _What about the other greenhouses?_ Harry thought, but didn't say. He didn't think Dudley would appreciate it. 

"What's this one, ma'am?" Harry asked. It had spiky pale leaves and smelled delightful.

"It's a sugar shrub," the Herbology professor said. "Can you guess what it produces?"

"Erm...sugar?" Harry said.

"Exactly right!" Pomona beamed. "It's used in many magical sweets and even some drinks. Now, over here-" She led them toward the back of the greenhouse, weaving between plain, wooden tables. A sort of magical spring chuckled to itself at the back corner, leaving Harry's mouth agape.

"You see these?" Professor Sprout knelt in the damp earth, heedless of it staining her robes, as she fished out a clump of something grey-green and slimy-looking. "This is gillyweed."

"What's that do?" Dudley asked. Professor Sprout smiled.

"If you eat some of that, you grow gills," she explained, letting it fall back into the water and standing back up, brushing the dirt away. "It allows you to breathe underwater for a certain period of time. Depends how much of it you eat."

"Wicked," Harry breathed.

"Professor Snape stores it in his lab," she added. "Perhaps one of these days, he'll let you try it for a bit."

"That would be brilliant," Dudley said enthusiastically.

"I erm- I can't swim," Harry admitted, unhappiness tugging at his face.

"You don't necessarily need to know how to swim with the gillyweed," Professor Sprout said. "But I'm sure someone will teach you. If nothing else, I will. How's that?" Harry looked up.

"I'd like that," he said.

"Why don't we look at more plants?" Professor Sprout suggested.

Smiling, Harry followed.


End file.
